Umbrella structure

ABSTRACT

The umbrella structure contains a tubular member, a central shaft whose bottom section is sleeved in the tubular member, an upper next fixedly configured at a top end of the central shaft, a lower nest slidably configured along the central shaft in the other section without the tubular member, a number of collapsible ribs radially arranged around and pinned joined to the upper nest, and a number of stretchers connecting the ribs to the lower nest.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to umbrellas and moreparticularly to an umbrella structure whose components are all made ofplastic materials.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Some disadvantages of a conventional umbrella can be summarized asfollows. First, the rib structure is usually made of some metallicmaterial for better strength. However, metallic ribs also mean heavierweight and inferior convenience. In addition, pointed metallic ribspresent a potential safety hazard to the user.

Secondly, other than the ribs, quite a few other components such as thecentral shaft, the bolts joining the rib sections, and the connectingwires, etc., are also made of metallic materials. These metalliccomponents inevitably would have rust problems. The rusted componentsnot only affect the appearance of the umbrella but also hinder theoperation of the umbrella.

Thirdly, these metallic components are difficult to recycle. Even thoughsome umbrellas combine recyclable plastic parts with the umbrellastructure to avoid some of the foregoing problems, the plastic partsactually add additional difficulty in classifying the umbrella forrecycle.

Furthermore, the design flexibility of conventional umbrella is usuallylimited to the gore of the umbrella. The central shaft of the umbrellamost of the time is not matched with the gore design, which makes theumbrella less appealing to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, a novel umbrella structure is provided herein. The umbrellastructure contains a tubular member, a central shaft whose bottomsection is sleeved in the tubular member, an upper nest fixedlyconfigured at a top end of the central shaft, a lower nest slidablyconfigured along the central shaft in the other section without thetubular member, a number of collapsible ribs radially arranged aroundand pinned joined to the upper nest, and a number of stretchersconnecting the ribs to the lower nest.

The foregoing components are all made of some plastic materials and theumbrella is therefore handy, light-weighted, and robust to rusting. Allplastic components also significantly enhance the operation safety ofthe umbrella. In addition, the tubular member can be configured to havea matched color to the gore, a superior touch and texture, and a moreappealing appearance. At last, the all-plastic umbrella structure ishighly recyclable and therefore is much friendlier to environmentprotection.

The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction tothe present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects ofthe present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detaileddescription of the invention and the claims should be read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specificationand drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similarparts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will becomemanifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to thedetailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which apreferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of thepresent invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a collapsible umbrella according toan embodiment of the present invention in a collapsed manner.

FIG. 2 is perspective view showing how the central shaft is sleeved inthe tubular member of the umbrella structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a non-collapsible umbrella accordingto another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are notintended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of theinvention in any way. Rather, the following description provides aconvenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of theinvention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made inthe function and arrangement of the elements described without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a collapsible umbrella structure according toan embodiment of the present invention contains a central shaft 10, anupper nest 20 fixedly configured at a top end of the central shaft 10, alower nest 21 slidably configured along the central shaft 10, and about8 to 10 collapsible ribs 30 radially arranged around and pinned joinedto the upper nest 20. Please also see FIG. 2, which also depicts thecollapsible umbrella structure of FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,each rib 30 contains a first section 31, a second section 32, and an endsection 34 series connected in this order from the upper nest 20outwards. A number of stretcher 33 are provided, each with its two endsconnected to the lower nest 21 and a first section 31 of a rib 30,respectively. When the upper lower nest 21 is slid upward towards theupper nest 20, the stretchers 33 raise the first sections 31 of the ribs30, which in turn stick out their respective second and end sections 32and 34. In reverse, when the lower nest 21 is slid downward, the ribs 30are pulled inward by the stretches 33 and thereby collapsed. For anordinary, non-collapsible umbrella structure according to anotherembodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, the ribs aredirectly raised or retracted by sliding the lower nest 21. The operationof these embodiments is pretty much identical to that of the prior artsand its details are therefore omitted here.

The major characteristics of the present invention lie in the following.The central shaft 10 and all the foregoing components are made of someplastic materials and therefore the umbrella structure is handy,light-weighted, and robust to rusting. Them, the bottom section of thecentral shaft 10 is sleeved in a tubular member 40 which can have ahandle 50 configured at a bottom end of the tubular member 40. Thepurpose of having the tubular member 40 is mainly for ornamentation. Thetubular member 40 can have a matching color to the gore of the umbrella.The tubular member 40 can also be configured to enhance the appearance,touch, and texture of the umbrella, which is difficult to achieve by theconventional central shaft 10 alone.

Additionally, a cap member 60 can be provided on top of the upper nest20. For collapsible umbrella, the cap member 60 usually has a shortcylindrical shape. For non-collapsible umbrella, the cap member 60usually has an elongated and pointed shape.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown anddescribed and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intendedto be limited to the details above, since it will be understood thatvarious omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the formsand details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be madeby those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spiritof the present invention.

1. An umbrella structure comprising: a tubular member having a handle ata bottom end; a central shaft whose bottom section is sleeved in saidtubular member, said central shaft being made of a plastic material; anupper nest fixedly configured at a top end of said central shaft; alower nest slidably configured along said central shaft in the othersection without said tubular member; a plurality of ribs radiallyarranged around and pinned joined to said upper nest; and a plurality ofstretchers, each with the two ends connected to a rib and said lowernest, respectively.
 2. The umbrella structure according to claim 1,wherein said ribs are collapsible.
 3. The umbrella structure accordingto claim 1, wherein said ribs are not collapsible.
 4. The umbrellastructure according to claim 1, further comprising a gore whose one sideis attached to said ribs wherein said tubular member has a colormatching that of said gore.
 5. The umbrella structure according to claim1, further comprising a cap member configured on top of said upper nest.